I have an 02 MCS that my wife says is leaking PS fluid. I am in Iraq but will be home in 2 weeks and would like to repair it while I am there. So, I am hunting down parts and prices and wondered which was most likely to need replacing. There are no issues with steering and the MINI has about 75K miles. Thanks!

 

first thanks for your sacrifice ; my old man was 1st cav 2 tours in nam . so when i say thx i mean thx . anyway my personal experience on leaks was the rack /. hit a pot hole and it junked the rack . secondly you'll see some posts refering to the hoses . ocasionally they leak . if you in mass. or nearbye i'll be glad to help if i can . i'm sure many will to get you on your way and your wife on the road so you're not worried . luck to you .

 

I had to have my power steering lines replaced not long ago due to a leak. I wish I could say for certain that's the root cause of your issue, but like the previous poster said, it could be your rack leaking.

GotMINI

 

One of the clamps under the reservoir was loose on my wife's MINI - replaced with a standard clamp and all is ok.

 

[FONT=&quot]I had to have the high pressure hose replaced somewhere around 55,000 miles and then the return line started leaking around 75,000 mi. Total in power steering hose repairs: about $900.00.

If you make the repairs yourself, you're gonna have put the car on a lift and drop the sub frame to get to them. If you do that, they should be straight forward. The high pressure line is about $250.00. The approximate $450.00 dealer repair might be worth it, plus my dealer guaranteed it for two years. My high pressure line actually failed 18 months into the repair, so they replaced it again at no charge. Apparently the hose was slightly misaligned and was rubbing the pwr steer fan bracket.

If you're in central Florida I own a car lift so I can help if you wanna take a closer look at the problem. You can contact me at rheatrs@aol.com or on this forum.

Good luck and thank yo for your service!

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One more comment. Make sure you use the power steering (hydraulic)fluid that's sold at the MINI dealership or a MINI parts depot. The local auto parts store recommended an all purpose PS fluid. I opted to pay the $25.00 for the quart at the dealer. The all purpose as I understand can easily ruin your power steering system.

You'll need the quart until you get the leak fixed as you don't want to run the reservoir empty. If it starts leaking too bad it will smoke pretty bad as it hits the exhaust. Not a good thing either.

John